Seashells
by RuthR
Summary: Being left behind isn't easy. One-shot, companion piece to 'Comet'


**_Seashells_**

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Sometimes Joanna hates it when her daddy is up in space. Most of the time it isn't so bad -- they talk every other night, and he always has the best stories to tell, not to mention the very best presents from the far-away planets he visits.

She tells anyone who will listen that her daddy is the head doctor for the _Enterprise_, the coolest starship in the entire Alpha Quadrant. Her friends look at her with jealous eyes when she shows them the bracelet made of Zavakian dew-crystal that Daddy brought her on his last shore leave; the boys in her class cluster around during recess, urging her to tell the stories of Dr. McCoy and the _Enterprise_ and Uncle Jim.

Her daddy's a hero. Joanna knows it, and she's proud of him, as proud of him as any eight year old can be.

It's still hard when Daddy is so far away; there are times when even seeing his face on the view-screen doesn't make her feel any better. Times when Mommy gets into one of her moods and doesn't talk to Joanna for days on end. Those are the bad times.

But the worst times are when Joanna sees how tired and worn out her daddy looks when they talk. He's so _sad_ sometimes, and she wishes she could make it all better, that she could fix him up like he fixes up everyone else.

She dreams that she's on the _Enterprise_ with Daddy -- Cadet Joanna, they'd all call her -- and she's having the most wonderful adventures. It helps, but she can't stop herself from asking Daddy when he's coming home again. He makes a funny face and tells her, 'Two more months, Jo," or "Not yet, Jo, sweetheart, but soon."

It seems like forever, but he does come home. He always does, and he's _happy_. Those weeks they have together, without Mommy and her moods, are the highlight of Joanna's life. They play games and take walks and travel all over Georgia, just the two of them, and she never wants it to end, even though she knows it has to. Daddy has a job, an important one, so she saves up all the memories to treasure when he's gone again.

Sometimes Uncle Jim joins them, but Joanna doesn't mind. Uncle Jim is awesome and funny, and he makes Daddy laugh, so she likes having him around. He plays pirates with her and calls her 'Cadet Joanna' just like in her dreams, and she's already made up her mind that she's going to marry him when she grows up.

It's the last week of shore leave now, and Daddy and Uncle Jim took her to the beach. She's sitting on a damp towel and squishing the sand between her toes as she watches Daddy wade through the surf and pick up the prettiest shells.

Uncle Jim is stretched out next to her, sifting through the bucket of seashells that they've already found -- he's washing them in the water for her so they'll look nice on top of her dresser.

Joanna's been wondering about something since the first time Daddy brought Uncle Jim to Georgia, but she's never asked. He looks so happy right now that she doesn't think he'll mind.

"Uncle Jim?"

He looks at her with those pretty, smiling blue eyes. "Yeah, Jo?"

"How come you never go see your family?"

Uncle Jim's smile is gone, and for a moment Joanna is afraid that she's made him mad. He must see it on her face because he grins at her, but his eyes are sad, like Daddy's are when he tells her he can't come home right away. "I don't have any family to go back to," he says.

Joanna wiggles her toes in the sand, wishing she'd never said anything. "Are they dead?" she whispers at last, fearing the answer but too curious to stop from asking.

He doesn't answer at first, his gaze wandering out to the water. "No," he tells her, just as softly. "They aren't, but . . ." His eyes turn back to her. "Jo, honey, you and your daddy -- _you're_ my family."

Joanna is a little awed and a little overwhelmed, but the more she thinks about it, the more she likes the idea. Family. Uncle Jim can be Daddy's family when they're on the _Enterprise_. Uncle Jim can look after Daddy and make him laugh when he gets too sad.

"I'm glad," she says. She wants to say more, but she thinks he understands.

Daddy moves out toward the cove and turns to see them both watching him. He lifts a hand and waves, and Joanna waves back, but then he twists over and steps on something that makes him say a very bad word.

Joanna giggles, listening to Daddy's grumbling and Uncle Jim's low chuckles, and happily digs her feet back into the sand.

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A/N: _This was just a little companion piece to 'Comet' -- if there are any future Star Trek movies lined up, I hope we'll get to see Joanna in at least one of them._

_Thanks for reading!  
_


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